How to Deal with Your Trials
I Peter 4:12-19
Intro:
1. For some of you experiencing trials pulls you away from the Lord - for others tragedy brings you closer.
2. What do you need to know to bring you closer to Him when trials come?
I. v12 - Holy People are Going to Suffer.
A. It’s not a matter of will you suffer — but when & to what degree.
1. Ps 66:10 - For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
2. Is 48:10 - I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
B. Why?
1. Because you are a foreigner in Satan’s society.
a. This is seen in the names Satan wears: Jn 12:31 - The ruler of this world; II Cor 4:4 - The god of this age; Eph 2:2 - The prince of the power of the air.
b. Satan is in control of this world’s society. I Jn 5:19 - We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
2. Because you make non-believers nervous.
a. It isn’t popular to be honest, law abiding & generous.
b. When you are, you stand out from the crowd & convict people making them feel uncom- fortable.
II. v13-16 - How Should You React When You Suffer?
A. Rejoice!
1. v13 - Because you get to suffer for the Lord in return for Him suffering for you.
a. Participate (κοινωνέω) = to share, to have something in common.
b. The Lord’s Supper, communion, is a participation (same word) (I Cor 10:16).
c. Contributing to the offering is a participation (same word) (Rom 15:26).
d. At your baptism you identify with the Lord & His gospel. Romans 6:3-4, 8, 11 - Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life . . . Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him . . . In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
e. v13b - When the Lord returns, it will have been an honor to have suffered for His sake!
2. v14 - Because His Holy Spirit will “rest” on you.
a. This probably refers to the Shekinah of God.
b. ILL: The brilliant cloud of the Exodus (Ex 13:21).
c. ILL: The face of Moses (Ex 34:29; II Cor 3:7 & 13).
d. ILL: The Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8).
e. ILL: Stephen’s face was like that of an angel (possibly bright) (Act 6:15).
B. v15 - Your suffering needs to be undeserved. Suffering could be a natural consequence of wrong choices or bad behavior.
C. v16 - Wear the name “Christian” proudly - don’t be ashamed of that precious name.
1. You belong to the Lord & identify with Him by wearing His name.
2. This name clearly identified people in the Bible with Christ. It appears 3 times in the New Testament.
a. Antioch is where they were first called Christians (Act 11:26).
b. ILL: King Agrippa at Paul’s trial. Act 26:28 - Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian? .
III. v17-19 - What is the Purpose for Suffering?
A. v17 - To test the genuineness of your faith.
1. I Pet 1:6-7 - In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which peris- hes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
2. Jam 1:3 - because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
3. Old Testament examples of faith testing:
a. Heb 11:8 - By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheri- tance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
b. Heb 11:17 - By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son.
4. How the Lord tested faith.
a. ILL: Ignoring the blind man who called Him “Son of David” (Matt 9:27-30).
b. ILL: The Canaanite Woman: “Even the dogs eat the children’s crumbs”. (Matt 15:21-28).
B. v17-18 - To make an obvious separation between the believer & the unbeliever.
1. Judgment (κρίμα) = the result of a decision, a verdict.
2. The persecuted, those who have obeyed the gospel, are barely saved by God’s grace.
3. So how could the persecutors, who have not obeyed the gospel, have any hope for salvation if they haven’t accepted the Lord.
4. Obeying the gospel (accepting Jesus as Lord) is the only way to salvation. (John 14:6)
5. Your good life is not good enough - you must rely on God’s grace!
6. So - Obedience to the gospel + God’s grace = salvation!
C. v19 - To compel you to entrust your salvation to God.
1. Commit (παρατίθημι) = to place beside or set before, (a technical term) to deposit money with a trusted friend, so to entrust.
2. Trust God for your salvation like you would entrust money to the bank.
If you are really living for the Lord, you will probably suffer for Him in some way eventually. Count it a privilege & rejoice!
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